Malachi
4 reminds me of Chilly Willy. He was the little cartoon penguin that
was always cold and searching for someplace to keep warm. His
pursuit often put him into dangerous or inappropriate places. Many
of us, in our yearning for warmth have visited and even stayed in bad
situations. This message is for those numbed by the cold. Today’s
chapter is the last page in the Old Testament. It plows a hard line
between renewal, and separation. The previous chapter concludes with
a look ahead. The Lord Almighty declares, “On
the day when I act, they will be My treasured possession. I will
spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who
serves him“. Some have never
felt like anyone’s treasure. Note that the son serves the father
intentionally; and the choice of honoring God creates the distinction
“between the righteous and the
wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not“.
God allows us to decide; He does not force us out into the cold.
Chapter 4 begins with a clear deadline to decide, “Surely
the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace“.
Fire can delight, or destroy depending on where you stand. Do you
know where you stand?
He
describes the field after a harvest, little is left except dry twigs,
“All the arrogant and every
evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on
fire“. We do not know when
the harvest will come, but here is the good news for those that have
not yet produced any fruit, “for
you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with
healing in its rays“. Today
can be the first day of spring. 1 Corinthians 3:7 makes it clear
that though someone may have planted a seed of faith, and others may
have watered, it is “only God,
who makes things grow“. After
we find that place of healing, “you
will go out and frolic like well-fed calves“.
Do you remember the feeling of unrestrained joy?
The
chapter, book and entire word of the prophets ends with a call to the
frostbitten. “Remember the law
of My servant Moses, the
decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel“.
Every feast, every sacrifice and every item in the Temple points to
the work of Christ on the cross. Jesus explained, “Everything
must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the
Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke
24:44). He added “Do not think
that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them”
(Matthew 5:17). The Jewish people were looking for Messiah the
conqueror, “I will send the
prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord
comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and
the hearts of the children to their parents“.
Jesus said, “Elijah comes and
will restore all things. But
I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him”
(Matthew 17:10). The chapter ends with a curse, followed by 400 cold
silent years. Man is separated from God by sin. Jesus first came as
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He became the
once and for all atonement, paying our debt and calling us inside.
There is one way in, “I am the
gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved”
(John 10:9). Friend, is it time to stop living out in the cold apart
from God?